Holiday Inn Express Clayton (SE Raleigh) by IHG — Hotel in Clayton

Great location for us as we were in town for a wedding. The staff is very engaging, professional and helpful. We booked 3 rooms including a mobility accessible room.

While there is always a danger in missing someone we would like to call out a few team members who had positive impacts on our stay.

Kema – she checked us in and we had several interactions with her during our few days there. Kema gives the impression that she is a people person. One who cares about the service she is providing and the needs of her guests and one who has pride in the company she works for. She is friendly, engaging, and professional. She represents HIE and this property very well.

Becky – she maintains the breakfast area. She worked hard to keep the food stations stocked and she interacted positively with several guests while we were there. Often the staff maintaining the breakfast area do not seem to be people persons, but Becky made the breakfast experience more enjoyable.

Tom – he is also a Front Desk Rep. There was an issue with the elevator one morning and Tom worked to expedite the response time of the repair tech. He let the tech know he “has a guest in the lobby with mobility issues and we need the elevator working as soon as possible…”. Tom was reassuring and accommodating. He offered to obtain anything needed from our parents room via the stairs, and would have moved their room had there been an open mobility room on the 1st floor. The repair was made very quickly. Tom was very apologetic for something he couldn’t control. He made or parents feel valued and that this inconvenience mattered.

David – he is the manager. I worked with David in advance to be sure we would have the 3 rooms we needed and that we would be close to one another. David worked to meet all of our needs. David wasn’t on site when we checked in, however when he was at work the next day, he introduced himself and checked to be sure we were all good. After meeting David I suspect much of his teams strengths come from his approach and his training.

We have said before that a lot of hotels are the same from a brick and mortar standpoint, but one of the best distinguishers can be the staff. In this area this hotel receives an A+

Other positive things

Pancakes. As a special promotion HIE are offering make your own pancakes from 8 PM to Midnight every night. If HIE is reading this you would do well to make this a permanent feature. It is well received and it something not everyone does. It made for some fun times, family memories and we also enjoyed chatting with other guests. Everyone was impressed with the feature.

Bible – there is a Bible in the lobby and guests are free to turn it to their favorite passage. It is encouraging today to see a hotel that is not ashamed of something that was once a norm in the US. Inclusion need not exclude Christianity. This small item was also very well received and I cannot count then number of times we saw guests change the passage and how extremely well received this small item was. Thank you.

In short, if you need to stay in the Clayton, Garner area this is a great stay. Near several stores and restaurants.

Keep up...

Rented 8 rooms for a funeral me and my family had to attended. Left my suit garment bag with several high end shirts and my passport by accident rushing to the funeral. I called 2 hours later when I noticed I left my bag in the room talked to a manager and was promised a call back Didn’t happened was at-least expecting a call to say hey we’re looking into this matter. I called several times and was promised a call from management 1 day later Manager Tim Shaffer finally called me back and told me I probably stole the items myself. I asked for a copy of the video footage and he proceeds to tell me he didn’t have to check footage I probably snuck out the back door where he doesn’t have a camera. So this tells me that if anything worse happened me and my family Or any other guest we would be at a Bigger lost because they only have one camera in the building and no sensors on the rear doors to tell if someone went in or out. One camera for a place this big really?!?! that’s a safety issue by my standard. I work in the hotel industry and this mad me made. Being belittled and stolen from while dealing with a funeral is not how i planned on spending my time in North Carolina. IHG hotels will definitely be scratched off my list of comfortable family hotels to stay. I really used to love these properties but this has tarnished the way I feel about this brand and to think of how rude the staff was wow they really need to change their mission statement. This is their mission statement: To make a difference in the lives of the individuals we touch every day, by working together to deliver commitment, personalised service and a superior hospitality product by upholding a strong moral system and actively participating in the community. Upholding a strong moral system, that’s false...

We were switching from another nearby hotel so we wanted to see the rooms and make sure they would be a good choice. When we stopped in Tom was at the front desk and he was more than happy to show us the room and hold a reservation for us while we checked out of the other hotel. When we got back he made sure we had everything we needed to get settled, set us up with best pricing, and made us feel welcome. That all changed when the morning guy came in (I don't know his name because he really didn't want to be bothered by helping people). My mom who has serious medical issues was travelling with me and was in the room while I was in class. She called down for more coffee and was told she had to go get it herself. You know, those amenities that are included with your room.....I guess only if you stock them on your own. We called in the evening for a few supplies and Tom brought them right up, no hesitation. Upon getting ready for check out, I called for a luggage cart.....it was in the morning so, you guessed it, Mr. phone games-non helper, told me to come down and get it myself. If the staff is not more welcoming (more than just the one guy who was AMAZING) I can't say that I would want to stay here. For the price they charge, I would expect a little better from the business as a part of the hospitality industry. Hospitality is certainly lacking overall. Even if they don't do daily cleaning it would be nice to have a supplies request or something for housekeeping to hang your supplies on the door or set them inside the door (anything other than come get them yourself).

Food in the continental breakfast was ok but nothing to write home about. Pretty...